


Picture Messages

by Supreme_EvilQueen



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Cute, Depression, F/F, Fluff, Sadness, Selfies, Very fluffy, tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 19:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2037453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supreme_EvilQueen/pseuds/Supreme_EvilQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine Emma leaving her phone at the mansion. After picking it up, she finds dozens of selfies Regina took blowing kisses and holding a sign that says I love you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine Emma leaving her phone at the mansion. After picking it up, she finds dozens of selfies Regina took blowing kisses and holding a sign that says I love you. Prompt from Tumblr
> 
> I just want to say also, imagine Emma's suffered depression in the past and, obviously, Regina knows. Nothing trigger-y I don't think, but yeah.. I hope it's okay! Happy reading! :)

Emma collapses on the couch, cradling a large glass of apple cider. It had been a long day and Emma had been holding in her tears the whole time.

David had been a pain in her ass all day, complaining about the amount of paper work he had to do (Emma had double because she was the Sheriff and he was just a deputy, but hey. It wasn't like he cared) and how tired he was- "looking after a baby is a 24/7 job, Emma! I wasn't prepared!" She groaned at the memory of David's pathetic moans.

However, as easy as it was to ignore his jibes and mumbling, it was impossible to ignore his last comment.

"I don't understand how anyone could cope with a kid full time," he muttered.

Emma froze, staring at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

David glared at her, as if annoyed she had interrupted his thoughts (not like they hadn't annoyed her all day though, of course). "I mean, having one kid is so much work. I'd hate to have another. And he's already cost us a fortune." David spat, bitterly.

Emma felt her throat constrict. "One kid?" she whispered, and suddenly David was back. His eyes grew soft again and his voice lost it's venom.

"Emma I didn't mean it. I ju-" she stood from the desk, grabbing her keys. She wouldn't let him see her cry and she stormed out of the office.

Today had been hard enough, and that remark had just topped it off. The fact she'd left her cell at the mansion had only added insult to injury. Since arriving at the office, she'd been faced with Hook's leering and her father's complaints and a mountain of paperwork; along with several phone calls moaning about the youths painting the town red- literally.

It was already late, and she'd put up with several of Hook's innuendos that had made her skin crawl that day, and his not so subtle stares had been infuriating her all day. She had to leave.

She fazed out Hook's malicious chuckle and ignored her father's pathetic attempts to apologise as she stormed out to her bug. She was so done today.

The blonde drove quickly back to mansion, glad to finally be out of the overcrowded station.

And that's how she found herself sipping not so daintily at her cider and curling up to let her tears fall. Due to leaving her cell here, she hadn't even been able to text Regina at all to vent about David's ranting.

Speaking of her cell, the blonde frowned when she realised it wasn't on the table where she knew she'd left it. Her tears momentarily forgetten as she stood to try and track it down.

She searched the den, nothing. Same for the hallway and kitchen. Maybe Henry had hidden it? She shook her head, he was staying with Mary Margaret for a few days to hep with Neal (God knows, the kid loved kids) and work on a school project.

Her last chance would be their bedroom, and fortunately for her, the cell was lying on top of the sheets. Emma exhaled thankfully, not able to take not speaking to Regina for much longer.

She darted over to it, going to phone her. But when the blonde unlocked the screen, rather than have her typical home page load up, a picture of Regina appeared.

The brunette was pouting at the screen adorably, a caption underneath stating "looks like we won't be talking today x." Emma smiled, her finger lightly touching Regina's face. She flicked the picture off to view the next one. Thirteen pictures had been taken today- none by Emma.

Her smile grew at the next five, all different selfies of her girlfriend. The first being her pouting, the second her grinning and the others her sticking her tongue out at different angles for the blonde.

Emma snorted at the next image of Regina lying on the bed, with her holding the phone straight up, a serious look on her face and a caption stating "Snow's 'serious snapchat' face." And the next image made her laugh at loud. It was blurry and tanned. Emma could only imagine Regina had dropped the phone on her face and just left the picture there.

The next three were videos, not pictures, not that Emma minded, she wanted to hear Regina's voice.

"Hey Emma, I miss you," insert adorable pout. "See you tonight," Regina winked, making Emma smirk. Regina couldn't wink. Both her eyes would close at the same time, not that Emma would ever point out her girlfriend couldn't quite achieve a proper wink. She closed the video with a loud kiss, which Emma couldn't help but chuckle at.

The next was just video of Regina humming. Emma couldn't be sure what the song was, but she was guessing it was 'I Kissed A Girl'- Regina loved irony. But right at the end of watching Regina rolling her head and humming, the brunette opened her eyes and yelled "boo!" before dissolving into giggles. God Emma loved her. She felt more tears come to eyes watching Regina. She was so beautiful. "Still love you," the brunette whispered, blowing another kiss at the camera.

The last video was just Regina smiling cutely at the camera. "You'll find these when you get home, and I'll probably regret them." She sighs heavily, twiddling with her hair, before beaming again. "But I still love you, honey, and don't be sad today." At that Emma bursts into tears, staring at Regina's face, even after she blows another kiss and the video ends.

The next pictures Emma hardly sees through her tears. The first is Regina holding a sign.

"You are beautiful."

The next is a sign saying, "You're perfect (to me at least)" and her grinning up at the camera.

"You deserve happiness"

"And I'm glad I can give it to you" the 'you' was squashed up at the end, Regina had run out of room.

"I love you."

Emma clutched the phone to her chest as the sobs wrecked her body. She needed that, and she hadn't realised how much she needed it. She fumbled with the device for a minute, desperate to contact Regina.

The phone rang once before her voice met Emma's ear.

"Emma?" Regina was met with a sob and a sniff, before a mumbled,

"I love you too, Regina," the brunette smiled.

"I'm guessing you saw my intrusion on your cell?" Emma nodded, before realising Regina couldn't see, so she muttered a 'yes'.

There was a moment of silence, then Emma said, "I needed that."

Regina's smile fell from her face. "You okay? You need me? I finish in ten minutes, but I can come back now," she spoke quickly, but Emma calmed her.

"I'm okay now, I'll... I'll wait," she smiled. "I'll get the cider ready." Regina chuckled.

"Okay, be back soon, darling. I love you," Emma closed her eyes, loving those words coming out of Regina's mouth.

"I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it and just a note, MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING I guess if you have depression/ self harm it might not be the best thing to read. And I should say, this ended totally different from what I had planned but whatever I think it works! And yeah, that's Next To Normal because I just got into it and I adore it and there's a fic on fanfiction.net which is a SwanQueen Next To Normal oh God it is so perfect and wonderful, you have to read it, it's beautiful.

"Emma?" Regina called out when she entered the mansion, heading straight to the kitchen. The house was scarily quiet and Regina tried to prepare herself for the worst. There was a light by the kitchen, and so she followed it, hoping Emma really was just getting a drink or more food for her bottomless pit rather than something sharp.

Regina held her breath as she pushed the door open, but let it out just as quickly at the innocent scene. She was met with Emma shakily trying to remove the cork from the bottle, clenching her jaw tightly to try and stop tears falling. "Emma?" she whispered, going right over to the blonde, rubbing her back before Emma threw herself at Regina, wrapping her tightly in her arms as a fresh wave of tears hit her. "Oh baby."

Regina pulled Emma into the embrace and cradled the blonde's head. She peppered her forehead and hair with little kisses, so relieved the blonde hadn't done anything bad to herself- that she could yet see. She hadn't been this bad since the pair had met. Emma clung tightly to her brunette and mumbled apologises.

All Regina could do was hold her close, assuring her everything was okay and that the monsters were only in her head, they weren't real. Eventually Emma pulled away, hiccuping and rubbing her eyes.

"M'sorry, R'gina," she mumbled, grabbing her hand and placing kisses all over it. Emma noticed now that Regina hadn't even removed her shoes, which made more tears form. "You- you have your shoes on?" She knew the mayor hated wearing her heels longer than necessary. Emma also knew that Regina usually removed them in the car and walked barefoot up into the mansion.

Regina couldn't help but chuckle, nodding her head. She moved her hands to cup Emma's face, smiling at her. "Of course, silly," she tapped Emma's nose with her finger. "You needed me," she said simply, placing a kiss on the blonde's mouth. "Come on, let's go to bed," she whispered when Emma started crying again. The blonde grabbed the bottle of cider and let Regina lead the way, but not before the brunette kicked her shoes off at the bottom of the stairs.

"Won't that annoy you?" Emma asked quietly, but Regina shook her head.

"No, because I did it for you," she answered back, her thumb rubbing Emma's hand gently.

Emma closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. She had to stop her tears. Regina tugged her hand and the two ascended the stairs. "Can you wait for me in the bedroom?" Regina asked, cupping Emma's face again.

It was a simple gesture, but one that both knew calmed the other the most. It blocked off their view to the rest of the world and left them with only each other in sight. It was a simple way of blocking out the monsters in Emma's head. The blonde nodded, leaning in to Regina's touch.

"I'll be one minute, darling," she whispered, kissing her again before slipping into the bathroom.

Emma climbed into their bed, grabbing Regina's pillow and hugging it tight to her. It still smelt of her. She dropped the cider bottle in the middle of the bed and wrapped Regina's pillow around her torso, hiding her face in it.

She focused on remembering everything she had ever learnt through therapy and reading and research and doctors, but nothing was getting rid of this... sadness? Darkness? creeping through her. Emma hated it. No matter what she thought of, no matter how many images of Regina she could see at once, the blonde still felt awful.

Taking deep breaths, in and out, slow and steady, repeatedly. When Regina came back into the bedroom, Emma hadn't noticed that twenty minutes had passed. All she knew was that she had finally calmed down enough to not cry when she saw Regina.

"Hey," the brunette said as she placed her clothes in the wash bag.

"Hey," Emma replied hoarsely, patting the bed beside her. "Be my big spoon?" she asked hopefully. Regina grinned, happily crawling into bed.

Regina opened her arms and Emma snuggled into her. Emma hummed in contentment, holding Regina's hands up to her middle. They lay in silence for a moment before Regina asked the question Emma knew was coming.

"Want to talk about it?" Emma wasted time playing with Regina's fingers. Rubbing each one gently, locking them with hers, kissing each one as she thought of a careful answer.

"I missed you?" she tried, tilting her head to smile sheepishly. Regina rolled her eyes, but returned the smile, kissing her head.

"Maybe, but missing me has never made you so sad," Regina reasons with a bop to Emma's nose, that makes the blonde scrunch her face up adorably.

Emma sighed and shrugged, rolling over to be face to face with Regina. They were so close Emma could almost taste Regina's toothpaste breath. She shifted slightly so her forehead could rest comfortably against the brunette's. "I'm here, Emma," she whispered, holding the blonde's hands tightly, reminding Emma that she was safe.

The blonde let out a shaky breath. "David said-" another breath. "One kid, and I-" her breath caught, and Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist, pulling her close enough so Regina could nuzzle her neck.

"I got you," she whispered, her breath tickling Emma's throat. Emma clutched Regina's elbows, restricting the brunette's movement. "I got you, honey," she repeated, kissing Emma's quivering jaw.

The blonde took two large, shaky breaths, still clinging to Regina before holding her breath for eight seconds and repeating. When Emma had gone through this mantra four times, Regina rubbed her side slowly. "Better, baby?" Emma nodded.

"Yeah," she gulped. "Yeah better, thank you."

Regina nodded, kissing her jaw again. "Any time. Do you still want to talk about it?"

Emma nodded, releasing her grip on the brunette's elbows. "It wasn't so bad today really. Hook was a jackass.." Emma started, her voice sounding so small and broken. Regina squeezed her tightly.

"I missed you," she muttered, smiling slightly when Regina grinned up at her. The brunette kissed her cheek.

"I missed you awfully too, dear."

"Right, yeah, the pictures and videos suggested as much," she said softly, her grip tightening on the brunette.

Regina chuckled and lifted her head to capture Emma's lips. "I don't know about you, but I definitely think I should be adding all them to my modelling portfolio," she teased, finally making a laugh escape Emma's mouth.

"Definitely; you're certainly gorgeous enough," Emma sighed happily, thinking back to them. Silence fell on the room before Emma opened her mouth again. She hadn't wanted to tell Regina this, yet there was just something about her. Emma couldn't just keep this from her. "You know, weirdly, they triggered this," she added, so quietly, gesturing at her tear stained face.

"What?" Regina sat up, leaning back, staring at Emma intently. "Have I hurt you? Were they a bad thing? I didn't think you'd mind me on your cell-" Emma stopped her by smiling and covering her hands.

"No, R, no, it was just... the thing with David got me okay? And I was so..." Emma thought. "Pissed? Angry... I wasn't even that sad. When I got back I guess everything caught up to me and once I start, you know, crying I can't stop." Emma chuckled humorously. "Seeing your face, and those amazing messages," Emma chocked, and Regina raised her hand to cup the blonde's cheek. She opened her mouth but Emma continued. "And I couldn't thank you, or hold you and you're so beautiful and it got to me. Why would you want to be with me? How could you be with me?" Emma whispered, her cheeks pink at her blunt admission. Regina's mouth fell open in surprise but no words left it.

"How could you ever love a broken human?" Emma whispered, so quietly Regina barely heard her. "Am I crazy?"

"Oh Emma no," she gasped, horrified the blonde had such deep feelings of hatred for herself. "Emma, I love you-" the blonde opened her mouth to protest, but Regina held a finger against her lips, silencing her. "Scratch that. I adore you," she whispered.

"I admire you for standing up to and for 'The Evil Queen' and I adore your little habits that no one else knows about, like how you always eat with a spoon, even though you don't actually need a spoon to eat vegetables. I adore the way your face scrunches up when your hair falls in front of it and you're too lazy to move it out the way. I love the way you curl up to me in your sleep and mumble my name- and most importantly?" Emma gazes at her, admiration written all over her face. "I love you. I am completely and utterly in love with you, Emma Swan and all your idiotic idiosyncrasies," she finished, her thumb stroking Emma's cheekbone.

Emma, for her part, had been stunned into silence.

"And Emma? You might think you're crazy.. but let me tell you something," Regina leaned forward. "Crazy is perfect, and fucked up is perfect!" she exclaimed, holding her hands tightly."I don't care Emma, because if you're crazy or fucked up or depressed or sad or even just bored, it's  _you_  and you are perfect, whatever you you are that day."

Emma couldn't help it. She wrapped her arms around Regina's neck kissing her fiercely, trying to tell Regina she had the same thoughts about her using only lips. "Marry me," Emma said breathlessly when they broke for air.

Regina chuckled, pushing Emma's hair out of her face. "Really?" Emma nodded.

"No one's ever made me so full and happy, ever. God I adore you, Regina. Please, just.. marry me. Let me be yours."

Regina smiled and kissed her softly. "Only if you'll let me be yours."

 


End file.
